Cardiff v Ipswich Preview
Posted on | April 24, 2009 | No Comments
Just like other games in the division, the scope for this one has changed hugely in recent games after Ipswich decided to terminate Jim Magilton’s contract and bring in former Sunderland boss Roy Keane. The move has shocked the football world although with Cardiff still having the play offs on their mind; it’ll be interesting to see how it affects the outcome of this fixture.
Cardiff’s form in recent weeks has taken something of a turn south and for the first time this season, they look like stuttering. A cushion of six points separates them from 7th place, but considering there was talk of automatic promotion not so long ago, Dave Jones may be slightly frustrated that their challenge for the top two hasn’t been too serious. Up until a couple of weeks ago things were going perfectly but an astonishing 6-0 defeat to Preston sent alarm bells ringing and Jones’ men only followed that result up with a 2-2 draw with recently relegated Charlton. Something else about this fixture is that this will be the last game played at Ninian Park before the Bluebirds move to their new stadium. Obviously though, with Roy Keane’s arrival at Ipswich, all of the media attention is going to be diverted from that and moved onto him!
Ipswich may have completed a memorable 3-2 victory over fierce rivals Norwich at the weekend, but that still wasn’t enough to save Jim Magilton his job. Owner Marcus Evans decided that the club simply hadn’t progressed enough this season having spent millions in the transfer market. If that wasn’t shocking enough, the board then moved swiftly to appoint Roy Keane as Magilton’s successor. It’s obviously a high profile appointment although after Keane’s feat of dragging Sunderland to the title during his first season in charge Ipswich fans should be pretty excited by the news. As it stands, the Tractor Boys are a long way off the play offs and the position of 9th wasn’t satisfactory for the club’s hungry owners.
Cardiff have been boosted with the news that Michael Chopra, Jay Bothroyd and Stuart Taylor all look set to be fit for this one after recovering from injuries. However, the outlook isn’t quite as positive for Kevin McNaughton and Mark Kennedy and both have been classed as doubtful for this one. Roy Keane on the other hand has quite a few problems and will definitely be without Ben Thatcher and David Wright. Gareth McAuley and Jon Walters are also big doubts, meaning that Keane may have to be a little imaginative in his first game in charge.
It’s going to be an emotional day for the Cardiff supporters as they bid farewell to Ninian Park, while Ipswich are also starting a new era under Roy Keane’s stewardship. Both clubs will want the win for completely different reasons but we think they could cancel each other out in this one and it’ll end in an entertaining 2-2 draw.
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